H.R. 126, Corolla Wild Horses Protection Act

Summary

As ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on April 24, 2013

H.R. 126 would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to enter into an agreement with the Corolla Wild Horse Fund (CWHF), a nonprofit organization, to manage wild horses in and around the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge. The wild horse population in the area is currently managed under a similar agreement between USFWS and CWHF. The new agreement would require CWHF to maintain a wild horse population totaling between 120 and 130 and would specify that CWHF is responsible for certain costs associated with managing the wild horse population.

Based on information provided by CWHF, CBO expects that, under the bill, the organization would manage the wild horse population using private funds; we estimate that the federal government would incur no significant additional costs to manage or mitigate the effects of horses on the refuge. If, however, CWHF was unable to maintain the population at or below 130 horses as required under the bill, CBO expects that USFWS would incur costs totaling roughly $200,000 a year to manage the horses. Such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. Enacting H.R. 126 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.

H.R. 126 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.